The Rest of the Story

Mark 10:17-31New International Version (NIV)

The Rich and the Kingdom of God

17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’[a]”

20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is[b] to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”

27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

28 Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”

29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

The other day I was talking to a good friend of mine and we were talking about giving and tithing.  In a moment of complete honesty, he says to me that he is not a cheerful giver.  He goes onto explain how it is his wife that helps keep him grounded in that aspect of his faith.  And instead of jumping all over him and questioning his motives, I agreed with him.  So many thoughts ran through my mind like “God loves a cheerful giver” and “God blesses those who freely give.”  But I just sat there, listening to what he was saying and I could not help but to agree.  It was incredibly refreshing to hear someone say what I was thinking.  I enjoy giving to the church and other organizations to see the ministries that I help fund keep going.  I love seeing the impact those ministries have on the community but I do not always give joyfully.  I often think what else I could be doing with the money I give.  And yet, I still give.  I give financially, of my time, of my talents.  But if I am being honest, I am not always “cheerful” when doing so.  There are so many things that our community asks us to donate to and by the time Sunday rolls around we often feel like we have just about given all that we can.  And our scripture this morning is one that I am sure we have all heard referenced at some point especially when talking about offering.  “It is much easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”  That is what Jesus said in Mark 10:25.  When I read those words, I think that I am safe because I am far from rich.  But being “rich” is most definitely a matter of perspective.  By American standards I am definitely not rich but when placed on the world scale, I am richer than most.  The purpose and goal of this sermon today is not to make any feel guilty or to try to turn all of you, and myself, into cheerful givers.  Instead, we will explore the rest of the story.

In the same week I had the conversation about giving, I had another conversation about this same exact scripture.  It was a coincidence I couldn’t ignore.  The title of this sermon actually comes from a phrase that was spoken by the person with whom I was talking about this scripture with and it really made me think.  Jesus used this man as a lesson in his parable and then we never hear about him again.  It begs the question of what happens to this guy.  What is the rest of the story? Did he give away his possessions like Jesus asked?  Did he ignore Jesus’ request?  If we are being honest with ourselves like my friend and I were in the conversation I first shared with you, we think to ourselves that Jesus’ request of the rich man is a little extreme.  Who can really sell all of their possessions and follow Jesus?  And even if you could, is this something that you would actually consider doing?  So, when faced with this scripture and others like it, we have a tendency to try to explain it away, to try to tone down what it says.  Instead of toning down what Jesus said to this man, let’s look closely at the details to see if we can find any clues to exactly what Jesus meant.

First, verse 17 says that Jesus is again “on the way.”  A common phrase for the Gospel of Mark.  This is important because it let’s us know that Jesus is continuing on his journey.  His journey of ministry that ultimately leads to the cross.  Jesus’ request to the rich man may seem just as extreme to us today as it did the man many years ago but this extreme request only echoes the demands Jesus placed on himself.  Jesus gave up his very life for the world, including you and I and that very same rich man.  Second, every time someone approaches Jesus on bended knee in the gospel of Mark, they do so as a request for healing for either themselves or for someone else.  This rich man also approached Jesus and knelt to his knees.  This could be Mark’s way of showing us that this man is also asking to be healed.  When we look at Jesus’ words in this light, the request does not seem like such a huge test or an extreme requirement.  Instead it is a solution to a deep seeded illness and need.  The greed and lust for money is the healing it appears Mark wants us to see.  Then, in verse 21, Mark wants us to know that Jesus loved this man.  Jesus doesn’t mock him and Jesus takes his request to heart.  Jesus didn’t judge this man.  He loved him.  Jesus said what he did about this man and yet he did so out of love.  Fourth, Jesus didn’t ask this man to give his wealth away to any church.  Jesus suggested he give it to the poor.  This shows us that Jesus felt it of the utmost importance to share in the hardships of this life with one another.  Lastly, it is not only the rich man who is shocked by Jesus’ request of this man.  I am sure there were some of the disciples who were like, “Um, Jesus, are you sure you want him to do that? We could really use that money.  We are kind of hungry. I am tired of sleeping on the ground. Do you know how much good we could do with that money?”  People were shocked because wealth was, and still is, looked at like a blessing from God which makes these words of Jesus that much more alarming to those who heard Jesus speak them.  When we delve into the small details of Jesus’ words we begin to more clearly see what Jesus meant.

My question then becomes, why.  Why is it so difficult for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God?  My proposed answer to this question has two parts.  First, I think it was important for the rich man and the disciples to know and understand that you cannot simply buy your way into the good graces of God.  While having money, power and influence is nice these things often have a tendency to corrupt and cause us to stray from God’s message.  Eternal life cannot be bought by these earthly things.  We can certainly do good things with proper funding but if we do not change the course of people’s hearts with those funds, they are useless.  The best funded ministry in the world is useless if it does not work to create a relationship with one another and with God.  The second part of my answer, I think the most important, is that wealth lessens our dependence on God and one another.  It is incredibly humbling to have to ask someone for help.  When we come to the point that we know that we can no longer handle what life has thrown at us on our own we become more dependent on one another and God. Someone who has worked to achieve wealth may have money and really cool things but those things cannot love.  They cannot reciprocate love.  Wealth means financial security and independence.  When we acquire such wealth, we no longer have to depend on God for our security which creates another falsehood of wealth.  Why is it difficult for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God?  Because we cannot buy our way to salvation and we must be dependent on God.  

We do not know what happened to this man after his conversation with Jesus that day.  It is my hope that eventually he found proper meaning in Jesus’ words.  He may have went on living like he had before that day.  But I stand by what I have said several times over the last year, one cannot encounter Jesus and not be changed by it.  A very few were lucky enough to encounter him first hand.  The rest of us encounter him through the Spirit and through one another.  However that true encounter takes place, it cannot be ignored.  Jesus demands our best.  Being honest and real in our faith causes constant change and improvement.  Am I anymore of cheerful giver after preaching on this scripture?  Honestly, no.  Because I am a little selfish and extremely imperfect.  This doesn’t mean I can choose not to give if I am able.  It does not mean I can act how I choose with no consideration of the impact of my actions on others.  It means that I am loved despite these imperfections.  It means that my encounter with Jesus has changed me and continues to do so every day.  Look closely again at the details of the demands of Jesus.  In the simplest form, it is a definition of discipleship.  This rich man’s story reminds every single one of us what it means to follow Jesus.  It reminds us that following Jesus by transforming who we are to become more like him, is not without its persecutions and it reaches into the depths of our deeply ingrained instincts of self-preservation and security.  If the rich man were to follow Jesus, there were changes that he had to make.  The same goes for the rest of us.  Jesus did not want to deprive this man of his riches.  Jesus just wanted more.  He wanted something money couldn’t buy, his heart, his mind, and his body dedicated to the service of furthering God’s kingdom.  The same thing he wants for you at this very moment.  Amen.